iTunes Match Prematurely Released in UK (Updated)

Looks like Apple might have hit the go button on the release of iTunes Match in the UK a little early. UK users have been seeing the option to sign up for the cloud music service, but have been bounced back when attempting to get it set up.

Nothing's up on the Apple website just yet, and we're not seeing anything from the UK iTunes store, but The Next Web is reporting Match will set you back £21.99 per year. It could mean the service is only just rolling out.

Whether you're actually interested in iTunes Match is another story; but if you want to swap all your crappy low bit-rate MP3s for 256Kbps DRM-free AACs, then £22 isn't that bad a deal. It's almost an amnesty of sorts for all that music you've pirated over the years. [The Next Web]

Update: To get iTunes Match to show up in the UK store and allow you to sign up for it -- sign out and then set your store region to the US. Click on iTunes Match and then subscribe, you can then sign in with your UK Apple ID and hey presto it'll sign you up. You can't use it right now of course -- or at least I can't -- but you'll get a confirmation of signing up via email from Apple, so it can't be long till it's actually activated.